An update on the “self-less” challenge

I had an encounter recently with some young women who were complaining about the election results. They were talking about how “hopeless” the world was, and how hard it is being a woman. And then, mid-way through their bitch session, they stopped to take a selfie of themselves eating a pita.

When I got home, I created this two-minute video

The basic gist of the video if you’re too lazy to watch a 2-minute video (and apparently thousands of you are) is that we might want to try using our phones to get educated about issues and possibly make a difference in the world instead of documenting our humus consumption. I asked the girls basic questions such as “When was our first election?” and “When did women get the right to vote?” They had no clue. I told them “You can’t bitch about how ‘hopeless’ our world is and ‘how hard it is to be a woman’ if you don’t even know what year women got the right to vote!” (it’s 1920 in case you were wondering.)

I shared the video on Facebook and asked others to share it as well if it resonated. 5 people shared it, and only a handful of people “liked” it.

The next day, I posted a picture of a gingerbread house shaped like Wrigley Field. As I write this, it has over 150 likes/loves/gasps and has been shared over a dozen times.

So what is the moral of this story? Obviously people love our Cubs — I do too. There’s nothing wrong with bleeding Cubbie blue. (And the Wrigley Field gingerbread house should win an award. It probably took weeks to make!) But in general, I think this says a lot about how apathetic we have become as a society. People don’t want to be told they have to be self-less. They’d rather tune out the problems of the world and continue to lean on their selfie-sticks for support. They’d rather share icing shaped like a “W” than actually do something to give back at a time when we actually need it the most.

So I will ask this once again… please try to use your phone to be self-less in the coming days.
I’m not talking about moving mountains here, people. I’m talking about doing little acts of kindness. Why not pay for someone’s cup of coffee? Or take a video of yourself putting money in expired parking meters? Later today, I am going to swing by the Evanston Fire Department to donate clothes. (A fire in an apartment complex left several people homeless without basic items like underwear and socks.) I’ll be posting that video too on my youtube channel (@jenweigel) in the hopes of inspiring others to do the same.

If there’s ever a time to be self-less, it’s during the holidays.
I know I won’t stop trying to inspire you to be the change you want to see in the world.
Because I’m spiritual, dammit!
#imspiritualdammit
#jenweigel
#self-lesschallenge